Hand-grenade



A. THOMPSON AND H. J. S. DENNISON.

HAND GRENADE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1918.

Patented J an. 6, 1920.

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v rinrrnn snares earner orrrcn ARNOLD THOMPSON AND HERBERT J. S. DENNISON, 0F TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

HAND-GRENADE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 6, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARNOLD THOMPSON and HERBERT J. S. DnNNrsoN, bothsubjects of the King of Great Britain, and residents of the city ofToronto, county of York, Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand-Grenades, asdescribed in the following specification and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, that form part of the same.

The principal objects of this invention are, to devise a grenade whichmay be handled with safety and may be thrown with great accuracy forconsiderable dis-.

tances.

A further and important object is to obviate the dangers due to theuncertainties of time fuses and to devise a grenade which though it willnot explode with ordinary handling will be extremely dependable in itsexplosion upon impact when thrown.-

A still further object is to devise a structure which is extremelysimple to manu facture, safe to handle in assembling and may be made atvery low cost. 7

The principal feature of the invention consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts, whereby the detonation of theexplosive charge is efiected by the pivotal action of a weighted memberadapted to be swung on its pivot through the impact of the grenadealighting.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a topplan view of the improvedgrenade. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the grenade with the cover removedand showing the parts set in the position for detonating.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view withthe cover removed showing one ofthe'striker memhere for detonating in the released position.

I Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view through the line 41-?) of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view through the line 0-cl of Fig. 3,showing the arrangemerit of the detonator and striker.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of themnor face of the pivotal operatingmember.

Numerous forms of bombs and hand grenades have been brought into use,some being detonated by time fuses and others by impact. The time fusehas several elements of uncertainty resulting in danger which it is verydesirable to avoid. The greatest difficulty experienced in regard toimpact detonating bombs has been to make casing being formed of the topand bottom sections 1 and 2 which are flanged at the edges and threadedtogether forming a double convexed disk.

A pin 3 is secured centrally in one of the disk sections and the outerend fits snugly into a receiving orifice in the other section. The innersurface of each of the disks is formed with a slightly raised boss 4surrounding the base of the pm.

A sheet metal holder 5 of segmental form, preferably slightly less thanhalf a circle is formed to the contour of the interior cavity in thecasing and the upper and lower plates are provided with lugs 6 whichrotatably encircle the pin 3 and are supported be tween the bosses l sothat the holder swings freely upon its pivot clear of the walls of thecasing. The inner face 7 of the holder is provided with holes 8 thereinfor the purpose which will hereinafter appear.

The holder 5 is loaded with suitable shrapnel 9 preferably of disk formas illustrated in Fig. l having sharp cutting edges. The

circumferential edge of the holder 5 is flat-' tened at 10 and a lugprojection 11 is formed V interior of the outer casing and is a segmentof less than half a circle. This explosive container fits snuglyintothe, outer casing and isheld in a fixed position, the central portionbeing shaped to clear the lugs 6 of the holder 5. The casing12 isprovided with openingslS in the inner face 14 in which are securedsuitable ferrules 15 for holding the detonators.

The openings 13 are arranged equidistant from the center and centrallyof the depth of the face 14:.

Striker members 16 are pivotally supported 7 upon the pivot pins 17which arelsecured in the lower member 2 of the casing close to the outerflange and arranged close to the face 1 of the explosive casing 12.These striker members are preferably formed of sheet metal havinglaterally bent lugs 18 journaled upon the pins 17 and conical strikerpins 19 are secured to or formed upon the said arranged as to strikecentrally upon the detonators arranged in the openings 13. The strikerli'lfiillblS extend outwardly from the pins 19 in a shape preferablyconcentric'to the inner wall of the flange of the casing 2 and engagethe lugs 11 of the pivotal holder in sliding Contact and the extremeouter ends 20 are preferably bent slightly inward to form a resistingelement to engage the said lugs.

The striker in bers are actuated to swing upon their pivots by coilsprings 21 encircling the pivot pins and the. outer curved portions 22are thus held in sp *ing engagement with the lugs 11. This springcontact holds the holder 5 from swinging upon its pivot unless thegrenade is moved with a quick moven and suddenly checked as considerablimpact is required to force the lugs 11 past the inwardly turned ends 20of t is striker. Si hen the holder 5 is swung upon its pivot with suchforce as to clear the striker pring behind same L11 swings it upon itspivot and brings the striker pm down upon the center of the detonator.Numerous tests have shown that after releasing one of the strikers theweighted holder rebounds and releases the other so that there is adouble factor in the certainty of operation. in the. evei'it f eitherdetonator failing.

striker members and so" In actual practice the projecting lugs 11 andinturned ends 20 of the strikers are so for zed that the force of impactwhich might be caused by careless handling or by bomb throweraccidentally striking his hand against a wall or against a comrade, oreven allowing the bomb to drop would not be sullicient to clear thesepoints but the greater impact of the weight of the bomb carried througha few feet further space is su'llicient to. cause the weighted holder toswing'upon its pivot to clear either one of the strikers and explode thecharge. It will be readily understood from this description and drawingthat the heavily loaded pivotal member will swingwith considerable forceupon its pivot when the movement of the mass is suddenly arrested andwhile this swinging movement may be utilized to act directly upon thedetonator the action might not be sufficiently positive for safety. V

It is found by actual test that the striker members and the engaginglugs upon the shrapnelholder can be so made that a grenade can bedropped for a distance of three or four feet, more or less without thestrikers being released. but if it is thrown for a distance of a fewfeet exceeding that for which it is set it will release the strikers onevery occasion. Such a grenade will be cx tremely safe in the hands of-athrower and will be as equally deadly at its objective. T he weightedholder is secured in a central position by asafety pin 23 which isinserted through the outer casing and holder and 18 provided with awithdrawing ring 24.

The uncertainty in the use of time fuse grenades has been a. veryserious matter and many instances have occurred in the present war wheretime bombs havebeen returned after having been thrown, with deadlyeffect upon the original thrower. This difliculty is entirely overcomewith an impact grenade and the present structure obviates the manydifficulties found in the use of this class of weapon.

An additional element of safety may be utilized in the use of a delaydetonator which will allow slight delay between the detonation of thecap and that of the portion which detonates the main charge.

The principle of operation is herein shown and described as applied to asmall hand grenade but it must be understood that it may be applied toany size of bomb and may be utilized in other shapes of bombs with equalfacility.

The structure herein shown is extremely simple the factor of safety isvery high, both as regards handling when loaded and in assembling. Thestrikers are first assembled into the casing and the loaded shrapnelholder is then placed upin the pivot pin and the strikers set. Thesafety pin is then inserted through the hole 25 in the outer casing andextends into and through the holder. The explosive container 12 is thenplaced in position and the upper half of the casing is screwed intoplace and when finally secured the safetypin is passed through theregistering hole 26 in the upper section of the outer casing and theouter ends turned over, thus securing the shrapnel holder from anypossibility of movement andmaking itabsolutely impossible for thestrikers to be released no matter what kind of usage the bomb issubjected to. v V

A further and important feature of this invention is that there are noplugs, screws, levers, caps or any operating parts which can be tamperedwith to cause accidents and and it does not require any manipulation orspecial manner of throwing and as it is thus perfectly balanced it maybe thrown with very great accuracy and for much greater distances thanother forms of grenades at present in use.

What we claim as our invention is 1. In a grenade, a weighted memberpivotally supported to rotate in a fixed plane, an explosive container,and means arranged in the plane of rotation for holding said memberstationary and for effecting the detonation of said explosive throughthe rota- I tion of said weighted member.

2. In a grenade, a weighted member pivotally supported to rotate in afixed plane, an explosive container, and detonating means engaging saidweighted member on either side and restraining it from rotation andadapted to be released upon the swinging of said member through theimpact of the grenade.

3. A grenade, comprising an outer casing containing an explosive chamberhaving detonators arranged each side of the center, a weighted memberpivotally supported centrally of said casing and adapted to swing uponits pivot through the force of impact, and spring actuated strikermembers arranged each side of the casing and adapted to explode saiddetonators, said striker members being held against their actuatingsprings by said pivotal member and released upon the swinging thereof.

4. A grenade, comprising, a casing, an explosive container havingdetonators, a holder pivotally supported Within the easing and carryinga load of shrapnel and adapted to swing upon its pivot and to effeet thedetonation of the explosive through the swinging force caused by theimpact of the grenade.

5. A grenade, comprising an outer casing,

an explosive chamber contained Within said casing and having detonatorsarranged therein adjacent to the sides, spring actuated striking memberspivotally secured within the casing and adapted to swing on their pivotsand to strike the detonators and having extension ends formed withinturned extremities, a weighted segmental member pivotally mountedwithin the casing and having its periphery engaging the extension endsof said striker members and formed with projections adapted to engagethe inwardly turned ends of said strikers and cooperating therewith toobstruct the release or" the strikers through the swinging of the loadedholder.

6. A grenade, comprising an outer casing formed of a pair of conicalshaped members secured together at their edges, a pivot pin arrangedupon the axis of said casing, an explosive containing casing ofsegmental form arranged within the casing and held in a fixed position,suitable detonators arranged in the inward face of said segmentalcasing, a weighted segmental member pivotally supported on said pivotpin and axially rotatable thereon, and means actuated by said pivotalmember for detonating the charge.

ARNOLD THOMPSON. HERBERT J. S. DENNISON.

